
Glass 3Y^JL0O- 

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The Way of the Lord Prepared 



The Way of the Lord 
Prepared 



-By 

A. B. LEONARD, D. D., LL. D. 

Corresponding Secretary of the Mission- 
ary Society of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church 




CINCINNATI : JENNINGS AND GRAHAM 
NEW YORK: EATON AND MAINS 



£ \*\o r ]i 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

MAR IB 1907 

i^T-Gepyrtght Entry 
GUSS f\ XXC, ffo.' 

/<-> 7^?y 

COPY B. ' / ' 



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Copyright, 1907, by 
Jennings & Graham 



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FOREWORD 



This little volume, is ^written with the 
purpose of giving in outline the connec- 
tion between prophecy and history in their 
relation to the kingdom of God in this 
world. Anything like a thorough discus- 
sion of the theme would require a much 
larger volume. But enough is given to in- 
spire the hope that the complete evangel- 
ization of the world may be accomplished 
well within the twentieth century. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTIR PAGE 

I. By Prophecy, ... 9 

II. The Promise-Doctrine Fulfilled 

in Christ, 30 

III. The Earthly Ministry, - 36 

IV. The Enduement of Power, - 39 
V. Struggle and Conquest, - 43 

VI. Events Culminate, - - "S3 



The Way of the Lord Prepared 



CHAPTER I. 

By Prophecy. 

There is a line of prophecy in the Old 
Testament which is meaningless unless we 
find its fulfillment in the person, ministry, 
sacrificial death, and universal reign of 
Jesus Christ. There is what a recent au- 
thor has styled a Promise-Doctrine, be- 
ginning with Abraham, which flows like a 
crystal stream through all the prophetic 
books, and finds its complete fulfillment 
only in Jesus of Nazareth. No attempt is 
made in this brief study to discuss with 
thoroughness the Messianic teaching of the 
Old Testament, but only to trace in outline 
the current of the promise-doctrine from 
the time of Abraham to the close of the 
prophetic period, and then to call atten- 
tion to the fact that the New Testament 
9 



10 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

claims that Jesus Christ was the culminat- 
ing fulfillment. 

Promise; to Abraham. 

"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, 
Get thee out of thy country and from thy 
kindred, and from thy father's house, unto 
a land that I will show thee; and I will 
make of thee a great nation, and I will 
bless thee and make thy name great, and 
thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless 
them that bless thee and curse him that 
curseth thee, and in thee shall all families 
of the earth be blessed. " (Gen. xii, 1-3*) 

The patriarch obeyed and "departed as 
the Lord had spoken unto him." The 
writer of the letter to the Hebrews says, 
"He went out not knowing whither he 
went." Every specific promise was made 
good. He was the head of a "great na- 
tion;" his name was made "great;" he 
was a "blessing," and in him "all families 
of the earth" have been and will continue 
to be blessed. 

Four years later, having entered the land 
of promise the Lord said to Abraham when 
Lot was separated from him, a time of 



By Prophecy 11 

peculiar trial : "I will make thy seed as the 
dust of the earth; so that if a man can 
number the dust of the earth then shall thy 
seed also be numbered. " Four years more 
passed and brought another trial, — the cap- 
ture of Lot and the battle of Chedorlaomer, 
— and the Lord strengthened his faith by 
appearing unto him in a vision, and saying : 
"Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and 
they exceeding great reward." But as yet 
the patriarch was childless, and there was 
no sign of the fulfillment of the promise of 
an innumerable posterity, and so the com- 
plaint, "Lord God, what wilt Thou give me 
seeing I go childless?" "Behold to me 
Thou hast given no seed." To again en- 
courage his faith the Lord brought him 
forth one night when the sky was cloud- 
less, and said: "Look now toward heaven 
and tell the stars, if thou be able to num- 
ber them ; and he said unto him so shall 
thy seed be, and he believed in the Lord; 
and he counted it to him for righteous- 
ness." Though sixteen years passed before 
Isaac was born, the faith of the patriarch 
did not falter, and as a testimonial to his 
faith God changed his name from Abram 



12 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

to Abraham, saying, "A father of many 
nations have I made thee." When Abra- 
ham was an hundred years old Isaac was 
born, and the cup of the patriarch's joy 
was full. 

Twenty-five years passed and Isaac 
was grown to young manhood, when 
the final trial of Abraham's faith came. 
One day God said to him : "Take now thine 
only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get 
thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him 
there for a burnt offering upon one of the 
mountains which I will tell thee of." But 
his faith did not fail, for the record says: 
"And Abraham rose up early in the morn- 
ing" and betook himself with his only son 
whom he loved so tenderly and in whom 
all his hope for an innumerable progeny 
centered, to his sad journey. Moriah was 
reached and ascended, and when the son 
said to the father, "Behold the fire and the 
wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt 
offering?" the answer was, "My son, God 
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt 
offering." The altar was built and Abra- 
ham "laid the wood in order and bound 
Isaac his son and laid him on the altar 



By Prophecy 13 

upon the wood." Then "Abraham stretched 
forth his hand and took the knife to slay 
his son. But the angel of the Lord called 
unto him out of heaven and said, Abra- 
ham, Abraham. And he said here am 
I." Was there ever anything more tragic? 
With unshaken faith in the fulfillment of 
the promise Abraham stands with 
"stretched forth" hand in the very act of 
obedience, notwithstanding the fact that 
if the blow descends the last hope of a 
numerous posterity will perish. But tha 
glittering blade does not descend upon 
Isaac, but upon the ram which was of- 
fered up "for a burnt offering," instead of 
the beloved son. 

Fortunately we are not left without 
an inspired explanation of the source 
of Abraham's strength in time of trial, 
or of the real meaning of the promise 
concerning the innumerable posterity. As 
to the former, we are told that "By faith 
Abraham when he was tried offered up 
Isaac, and he that had received the promise 
offered up his only begotten son." (Heb. 
xi, 17.) And as to the latter we read: 
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the 



14 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

promises made. He saith not and to seeds 
as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed 
which is Christ/' (Gal. iii, 16.) That 
Abraham saw the fulfillment of the promise 
in the person of the seed, which Paul de- 
clares was Christ, is made plain by our 
Lord Himself. When in controversy with 
the Jews He said: "Your father Abraham 
rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it 
and was glad." The Jews replied: "Thou 
art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou 
seen Abraham ?" The answer was: "Ver- 
ily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham 
was I am/' Mark well these words : Abra- 
ham saw Jesus and rejoiced, — "rejoiced to 
see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 
Although He was not fifty years old, in 
His life in the flesh, in His Godhead He 
antedated Abraham, and knew the true 
meaning of the promise. 

A Prophkt. 

God said to Moses : "I will raise up unto 
them a Prophet from among their brethren 
like unto thee, and I will put My words 
in His mouth ; and He shall speak unto them 
all that I shall command Him." (Deut. 



By Prophecy IS 

xviii, 1 8.) We are not left in uncertainty 
as to who the prophet was that should be 
"raised up." Philip having been chosen to 
the apostleship by Jesus found Nathanael, 
and said to him: "We have found him 
of whom Moses in the law and the prophets 
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of 
Joseph." (John i, 45.) This prophet 
is definitely recognized in the person of 
Jesus by the apostle Peter. At the gate 
of the temple in Jerusalem called "Beau- 
tiful" a helpless cripple lay asking alms 
of all worshipers. Peter looked upon him 
and said: "Silver and gold have I none, 
but such as I have give I thee ; in the name 
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and 
walk." And immediately he was healed. 
The miracle attracted a crowd, and Peter 
availing himself of the opportunity preached 
unto them Jesus, charging them with hav- 
ing "killed the Prince of life" whom God 
had raised from the dead; declaring that 
this "Prince of life" was the man of whom 
Moses and the prophets had written: "For 
Moses truly said unto the fathers: A 
Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up 
unto you of your brethren like unto me; 



16 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever 
He shall say unto you. . . . Yea and 
all the prophets from Samuel and those 
that follow after, as many as have spoken, 
have likewise foretold these days." (Acts 
iii, 22, 24.) If Nathanael and Peter are 
reliable authority, there remains no doubt 
that Jesus was the one of whom Moses and 
the prophets wrote. 

A King. 

The writers of the Old Testament de- 
scribe a King who would have universal 
dominion and reign in righteousness. In 
a literal or political sense no such King 
or ruler has ever lived. Some have strug- 
gled for universal dominion, but they have 
signally failed. And yet that the Old 
Testament prophets proclaimed the advent 
of such a ruler there can be no doubt. 
A psalmist wrote: "Yet have I set my 
king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will 
declare the decree; the Lord hath said 
unto me, Thou art My Son; this day have 
I begotten Thee. Ask of Me and I shall 
give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance 
and the uttermost parts of the earth for 



By Prophecy 17 

Thy possession." (Psa. ii, 6-8.) David 
wrote: "He shall have dominion also from 
sea to sea and from the river unto the ends 
of the earth." (Psa. lxxii, 8.) David him- 
self was a type of the universal ruler. 
Unless he were such there are many things 
said of him that can only be accounted 
for on the ground that the writers were 
gifted with a highly inflamed Oriental im- 
agination. One of these writers makes 
God say: "I have found David My serv- 
ant; with My holy oil have I anointed 
him. . . . Also I will make him My 
first born, higher than the kings of the 
earth. . . . His seed also will I make to 
endure forever, and his throne as the days 
of heaven. . . . Once have I sworn 
by My holiness that I will not lie unto 
David. His seed shall endure forever, and 
his throne as the sun before me." (Psa. 
lxxxix, 20, 27, 29, 35, 36.) Again we read: 
"All Thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, 
and Thy saints shall bless Thee. They shall 
speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and 
talk of Thy power; to make known to the 
sons of men His mighty acts, and the glori- 
ous majesty of His kingdom. Thy king- 
2 



18 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

dom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy 
dominion endureth throughout all gener- 
ations." (Psa. cxlv, 10-13.) 

These promises were not made good 
to David nor to any of his successors 
in a literal sense. Long ago the line 
of kings that ruled over the Hebrew 
nation became extinct. And yet there 
was to arise a King whose throne was 
to be as "the days of heaven," who 
should have universal empire. Isaiah saw 
the universal Ruler, and he wrote : "Every 
battle of the warrior is with confused 
noise and garments rolled in blood ; but this 
shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 
For unto us a Child is born ; unto us a Son 
is given ; and the government shall be upon 
His shoulder, and His name shall be called 
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the 
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. 
Of the increase of His government and 
peace there shall be no end, upon the 
throne of David and upon his kingdom, 
to order it and to establish it with judg- 
ment and with justice from henceforth even 
forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts 
shall accomplish this." (Isa. ix, 4-7.) 



By Prophecy 19 

Here in one passage of marvelous sweep 
and power the prophet sketches a kingdom 
from its beginning to universal conquest. 
Other kingdoms were founded by war, on 
battle fields "with confused noise and gar- 
ments rolled in blood." But this one "with 
burning and fuel of fire." There was to 
be no lack of intenseness and conquering 
power, though not attended with legions 
of soldiers and the horrors of war. The 
Ruler in this kingdom is described from 
birth until the whole responsibility of gov- 
ernment rests upon His shoulders, after 
which His four names are given which set 
forth His nature, — Wonderful ; His wisdom, 
Counselor; His omnipotence, Mighty God; 
His love, Everlasting Father. The result 
of His reign, — Peace, of which He was the 
Prince. His government was to be uni- 
versal, characterized by judgment and jus- 
tice, and should abide "forever." Daniel 
wrote: "I saw in my night visions, and 
behold one like unto the Son of man came 
with the clouds of heaven, and came to the 
Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near 
before Him. And there was given Him 
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that 



20 The Way of the Lord Prepared 






all people, nations, and languages should 
serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting 
dominion which shall not pass away, and 
His kingdom that which shall not be de- 
stroyed." (Dan. vii, 13, 14.) Having in- 
terpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream, in 
which he saw a great image, the different 
parts of which represented a succession 
of kings, the prophet described a kingdom 
which the God of heaven would establish — . 
"And in the days of these kings shall the 
God of heaven set up a kingdom which 
shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom 
shall not be left to other people, but it shall 
break in pieces and consume all these king-, 
doms and it shall stand forever." (Dan. 
ii, 44.) 

When Jesus entered upon His great min- 
istry He at once proclaimed a kingdom. 
Returning from the wilderness period of 
temptation He declared "the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand." The sermon on the 
mount announced the great fundamental 
principles of that kingdom. That word 
"kingdom" occurs thirty-four times in the 
gospel by Matthew, and with but a single 
exception has reference to an institution 



By Prophecy 21 

existent here in this world. Everywhere 
during His ministry Jesus preached "the 
gospel of the kingdom, " and just before 
He ascended in a cloud-chariot, angel- 
guarded, to His throne He claimed univer- 
sal dominion : "All power is given unto Me 
in heaven and on earth." 

The apostles having received the com- 
mand, "Go ye into all the world and preach 
the gospel to every creature," coupled with 
the promise, "Lo, I am with you alway," 
which meant that through His gospel and 
His presence and power the world should 
be conquered, went forth in His name, 
proclaiming His exaltation and rulership. 
In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, St. 
Peter declared that the resurrection and en- 
thronement of Jesus was a fulfillment of a 
prophecy uttered by David long before: 
"Therefore being a prophet and knowing 
that God had sworn with an oath to him 
that of the fruit of his loins according to 
the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit 
on his throne; he seeing this before spake 
of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul 
was not left in hell, neither His flesh did 
see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised 



22 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

up, whereof we are all witnesses. There- 
fore being by the right hand of God ex- 
alted, and having received of the Father 
the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath 
shed forth this which ye now see and hear. 
For David is not ascended into the heavens ; 
but he saith himself, The Lord said unto 
my Lord, sit thou on My right hand until 
I make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore 
let all the house of Israel know assuredly 
that God hath made that same Jesus, whom 
ye have crucified both Lord and Christ." 
(Acts ii, 30-36.) On another occasion this 
same apostle said: "Him hath God exalted 
with His right hand to be a Prince and a 
Savior" — a Prince to reign, a Savior to 
deliver from sin. (Acts v, 31.) 

This great truth concerning the enthrone- 
ment and universal rulership of Jesus in 
this world and the world to come is found 
in all the epistolary writings of the New 
Testament and the Apocalypse. How tri- 
umphantly it is announced by St. Paul: 
"Who is the image of the invisible God, 
the first born of every creature. For by 
Him were all things created that are in 
the heaven and that are in the earth, vis- 




By Prophecy 23 

ible and invisible, whether they be thrones 
or dominions, or principalities, or powers ; 
all things were created by Him and for 
Him; and He is before all things and by 
Him all things consist, and He is the head 
of the body, the Church ; who is the begin- 
ning, the first-born from the dead, that in 
all things He might have the pre-eminence. 
For it pleased the Father that in Him 
should all fullness dwell." (Col. i, 15-19.) 
Again he makes the name of Jesus su- 
preme: "Wherefore God also hath highly 
exalted Him, and given Him a name which 
is above every name; that at the name of 
Jesus every knee should bow, of things in 
heaven, and things in earth, and things 
under the earth, and that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord 
to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 

it, 9-*i-) 

In the letter to the Hebrews we read: 
"But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O 
God, is forever and ever; a scepter of 
righteousness is the scepter of Thy king- 
dom. (Heb. i, 8.) In the Apocalypse we 
have a highly scenic, panoramic sketch of 
the conquests of the kingdom of Jesus 



24 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

Christ. As the great panorama nears its 
close, a mighty battle, culminating in a 
final victory is described, in which Jesus, 
the King of kings, is supreme : "And I saw 
heaven opened, and behold a white horse; 
and He that sat upon him was called Faith- 
ful and True, and in righteousness doth He 
judge and make war. His eyes were as 
a flame of fire, and on His head were many 
crowns; and He had a name written that 
no man knew but He Himself. And He was 
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, 
and His name is called The Word of God. 
And the armies which were in heaven fol- 
lowed Him upon white horses, clothed in 
fine linen, white and clean. And out of His 
mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He 
should smite the nations ; and He shall rule 
them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth 
the winepress of the fierceness and wrath 
of Almighty God. And He hath on His 
vesture and on His thigh a name written, 
King of kings and Lord of lords/' (Rev. 
xix, 11-16.) Then follows the "new heaven 
and the new earth," the city that "had no 
need of the sun," into which nothing can 



By Prophecy 25 

enter "that defileth, neither whatsoever 
worketh abomination or maketh a lie." 

A Vicarious Victim. 

Jesus is set forth as the lamb "slain from 
the foundation of the world/' (Rev. xiii, 
8.) The Old Testament bloody offerings 
are declared in the New Testament to have 
been symbols of the sacrificial death of 
Christ. Scoffers have spoken of the Old 
Testament as a great slaughter house where 
innocent animals are immolated, with the 
vain hope that they would atone for human 
sin. They utterly fail to see that these vic- 
tims on Jewish altars were types of which 
Jesus was the antitype. The Jew was saved 
on the same principle that sinners are 
saved now. He was saved by faith in a 
Savior to come, of which the slain lamb 
was a type, while sinners are now saved 
by faith in a Savior who has come and 
given Himself a ransom for all. Isaiah 
wrote of the One who was to come : "Surely 
He hath borne our griefs and carried our 
sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, 
smitten of God and afflicted. But He was 



26 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

wounded for our transgressions, He was 
bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement 
of our peace was upon Him, and with His 
stripes we are healed. All we like sheep 
have gone astray; we have turned every 
one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid 
on Him the iniquity of us all. He was ap- 
pressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened 
not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb 
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her 
shearers is dumb, so He opened not His 
mouth. He was taken from prison and 
from judgment, and who shall declare His 
generation? For He was cut off out of 
the land of the living ; for the transgression 
of my people was He stricken. And He 
made his grave with the wicked and with 
the rich in His death ; because He had done 
no violence neither was any deceit in His 
mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise 
Him; He hath put Him to grief; when 
thou shalt make His soul an offering for 
sin He shall see His seed, He shall prolong 
His days and the pleasure of the Lord 
shall prosper in His hand. He shall see 
of the travail of His soul, and shall be 
satisfied." (Isa. liii, 4-1 1.) It is impos- 



By Prophecy 27 

sible to read these words of Isaiah without 
being reminded of St. John's account of the 
scourging, the thorny crown, the purple 
robe, the derision, the smiting with hands, 
the sentence by Pilate, the silence of Jesus, 
and the march to Golgotha "where they 
crucified Him." (John xix, 1-18.) 

General Lew Wallace in "Ben Hur" 
graphically describes the tragic scene: 

"He was nearly dead. Every few steps 
He staggered as if He would fall. A stained 
gown badly torn hung from His shoulders 
over a seamless undertunic. His bare feet 
left red splotches upon the stones. An in- 
scription on a board was tied to His neck. 
A crown of thorns had been crushed hard 
down upon His head, making cruel wounds 
from which streams of blood, now dry and 
blackened, had run over His face and neck. 
The long hair, tangled in the thorns, was 
clotted thick. The skin, where it could be 
seen, was ghastly white. His hands were 
tied before Him. Back somewhere in the 
city he had fallen exhausted under the 
transverse beam of His cross, which, as a 
condemned person, custom required Him to 
bear to the place of execution ; now a coun- 



28 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

tryman carried the burden in His stead. 
Four soldiers went with Him as a guard 
against the mob, who sometimes, neverthe- 
less, broke through, and struck Him with 
sticks, and spit upon Him. Yet no sound 
escaped Him, neither remonstrance nor 
groan; nor did He look up until He was 
nearly in front of the house sheltering Ben 
Hur and His friends, all of whom were 
moved with quick compassion. Esther clung 
to her father ; and he, strong of will as he 
was, trembled. Balthasar fell down speech- 
less. Even Ben Hur cried out, "O my God ! 
my God!" Then, as if He divined their 
feelings or heard the exclamation, the Naz- 
arene turned His wan face towards the 
party, and looked at them each one, so they 
carried the look in memory through life. 
They could see He was thinking of them, 
not Himself, and the dying eyes gave thern 
the blessing He was not permitted to 
speak." 

The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews 
interprets at once the prophecy of Isaiah 
and the historic sketch of St. John: "But 
Christ being come a high priest of good 
things, by a greater and more perfect taber- 



By Prophecy 29 

nacle, not made with hands, that is to say, 
not of this building; neither by the blood 
of goats and calves, but by His own blood 
He entered in once into the holy place, 
having obtained eternal redemption for us. 
For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the 
ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean 
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how 
much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself 
without spot to God purge your conscience 
from dead works to serve the living God." 
Isaac Watts wrote truly: 

"Nor bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast, 
Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest, 
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea, 
Can wash the dismal stain away. 

Jesus, Thy blood, Thy blood alone, 
Hath power sufficient to atone ; 
Thy blood can make us white as snow ; 
No Jewish type could cleanse us so." 



CHAPTER II. 

The Promise-Doctrine Fulfilled in 
Christ. 

St. Paul wrote : "But when the fullness 
of times was come, God sent forth His Son, 
made of a woman, made under the law, to 
redeem them that were under the law, that 
we might receive the adoption of sons." 
That Jesus believed Himself to be the man 
of whom Moses and the prophets wrote 
there can be no doubt. Let the critics say 
if they must that Jesus was mistaken, but 
they are compelled to admit that He be- 
lieved Himself to be the Man of prophecy, 
the Seed of Abraham, the Prophet that was 
to come into the world, the King of a spir- 
itual Kingdom, the Savior of the World. 

The advent of Jesus was heralded by 
John the Baptist, of whom Isaiah wrote: 
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilder- 
ness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make 
straight in the desert a highway for our 
God." (Isa. xl, 3.) John's testimony of 
30 



The Promise-Doctrine 31 

Jesus was: "Ye yourselves bear me wit- 
ness that I said, I am not the Christ, but 
that I am sent before Him. He that hath 
the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend 
of the bridegroom which standeth and hear- 
eth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the 
bridegroom's voice ; this my joy therefore 
is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must 
decrease. He that cometh from above is 
above all ; he that is of the earth is earthy 
and speaketh of the earth ; He that cometh 
from heaven is above all. And what He 
hath seen and heard that He testifieth, and 
no man receiveth His testimony. He that 
receiveth His testimony hath set to his seal 
that God is true. For whom God hath sent 
speaketh the words of God ; for God giveth 
not the Spirit by measure unto him. The 
Father loveth the Son and hath given all 
things into His hands." (John iii, 28-35.) 
To the inquiry of the messengers of John : 
"Art thou He that should come, or look 
we for another?" Jesus answered: "Go 
your way, and tell John what things ye have 
seen and heard ; how that the blind see, the 
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf 
hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the 
gospel is preached. And blessed is he who- 



32 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

soever shall not be offended in Me." (Luke 
vii, 22, 23.) 

But most important of all is the testimony 
of Jesus Himself. Only a few of the many 
instances recorded in the Gospels can be 
cited. Returning to "Nazareth where He 
had been brought up" after a period of ab- 
sence, "as His custom was He went into 
the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and 
stood up for to read, and there was de- 
livered unto Him the book of the prophet 
Esaias. And when He had opened the book, 
He found the place where it was written, 
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because 
He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel 
to the poor ; He hath sent Me to heal the 
broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
captives and recovering of sight to the 
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 
And He closed the book and He gave it 
again to the minister and sat down. And 
the eyes of all them that were in the syna- 
gogue were fastened on Him. And He be- 
gan to say unto them, This day is this scrip- 
ture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke iv, 
16-21.) Here He claims to be the man 
of whom Isaiah wrote, reciting as proof 



The Promise-Doctrine 33 

His teaching and miracles, which had al- 
ready spread His fame "through all the 
regions round about." (See Isa. li, 1-3.) 
Take another instance. Jesus healed a 
man at the Pool of Bethesda who had been 
helpless for thirty-eight years, on the Sab- 
bath day. The Jews accused Him of vio- 
lating the law of the Sabbath and sought 
to slay Him. In justification of what He 
had done, Jesus calmly answered: "My 
Father worketh hitherto, and I work." 
(John v, 17.) The Jews added another 
accusation, and "sought the more to kill 
Him because He not only had broken the 
Sabbath, but said also that God was His 
Father, making himself equal with God." 
Jesus admitted that the accusation was true, 
and claimed equality with His Father : "For 
the Father judgeth no man, but hath com- 
mitted all judgment unto the Son; that all 
men should honor the Son, even as they 
honor the Father. He that honoreth not 
the Son honoreth not the Father which 
hath sent Him." (Verses 22, 23.) "For 
as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath 
He given to the Son to have life in Him- 
self." (Verse 26.) He not only claimed 
3 



34 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

to have life in Himself, — that is to be the 
original source and fountain of life, — but 
He claimed that by His own authority and 
power "all that are in the graves" should 
"hear His voice" and "come forth, they 
that have done good unto the resurrection 
of life, and they that have done evil unto 
the resurrection of damnation." (Verses 
28, 29.) Then with biting irony He said 
to His accusers who claimed to be thor- 
oughly acquainted with their sacred writ- 
ings: "Search the Scriptures; for in them 
ye think ye have eternal life ; and they are 
they which testify of Me." (Verse 39.) 
Then he added : "Do not think that I will 
accuse you unto the Father; there is one 
that accuseth you, even Moses in whom 
ye trust. For had he believed Moses ye 
would have believed Me; for he wrote of 
Me. But if ye believe not his writings, 
how shall ye believe My words?" (Verses 
45-47.) In all this controversy with His 
enemies there is brought out in the strong- 
est possible light the one fact, about which 
our Lord never had a doubt, namely, that 
he was the Messiah described by the Old 
Testament writers. 

Once more, after His resurrection, when 



The Promise-Doctrine 35 

He met the eleven in some secret place in 
Jerusalem, dispelling all their doubts as to 
His identity, by saying : "Behold My hands 
and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle 
Me and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and 
bones as ye see Me have ;" He gave a final 
testimony as to who He was: "These are 
the words which I spake unto you while 
I was yet with you, that all things must 
be fulfilled which were written in the law 
of Moses and in the prophets and in the 
psalms concerning Me." (Luke xxiv, 44.) 
Here in one brief utterance He claimed 
that He was the Prophet, Vicarious Suf- 
ferer, and universal Ruler, described by 
Moses, the prophets, and the writers of the 
psalms. 

Charles Wesley summed up the Old Tes- 
tament teaching concerning Jesus in two 
stanzas : 

"To us a child of royal birth 

End of the promises is given; 
The Invisible appears on earth, — 
The Son of man, the God of heaven. 

The Christ by raptured seers foretold, 
Filled with the Holy Spirit's power, 

Prophet and Priest and King behold ; 
And Lord of all the world adore." 



CHAPTER III. 

Ths Earthly Ministry. 

Wh£n our Lord entered upon his 
earthly ministry the obstacles in the way 
of the progress of His kingdom seemed in- 
surmountable. Only the Jews had any cor- 
rect knowledge of the true God, and theirs 
was very imperfect. The balance of the 
world was heathen and barbarian. These 
obstacles were what high mountains and 
deep valleys and crooked, rough paths are 
to the progress of an army. But these ob- 
stacles were to be removed. Isaiah fore- 
saw the struggle and the victory: "Every 
valley shall be exalted and every mountain 
and hill shall be made low ; and the crooked 
shall be made straight, and the rough places 
plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be 
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together ; 
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." 
(Isa. xl, 4, 5.) By His teaching and mir- 
acles Jesus showed that He possessed om- 
36 



The Earthly Ministry 37 

niscience and omnipotence. He knew the 
obstructions in the way of His kingdom, 
and He possessed the wisdom and power 
necessary to remove them. There was no 
law of nature, or influence for good or evil, 
of which He was not the master. He 
needed but to speak and it was done; the 
blind saw, the deaf heard, the sick were 
healed, the maimed were made whole, the 
loaves and fishes were multiplied, the dead 
were raised up, the tempest was hushed. 
He was 

"No stern recluse, 
As His forerunner ; but the Guest and Friend 
Of all who sought Him, mingling with all 
To breathe His holiness on all. No film 
Obscured His spotless luster. From His lips 
Truth limpid without error flowed. Disease 
Fled from His touch. Pain heard Him and was 

not. 
Despair smiled in His presence. Devils knew 
And trembled. In the omnipotence of faith 
Unintermittent, indefectible, 
Leaning upon His Father's might He bent 
All nature to His will. The tempest sank, 
He whispering, into waveless calm. The bread 
Given from His hands fed thousands and to spare. 
The stormy waters, as the solid rock, 
Were pavement for His footsteps; Death itself 
With vain reluctance yielded up its prey 
To the stern mandate of the Prince of life." 



38 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

He permitted Himself to be crucified, 
that He might thereby show himself death's 
conqueror. To forever banish doubt from 
the minds and hearts of His followers in 
all succeeding ages He proclaimed His uni- 
versal reign: "All power is given unto Me 
in heaven and earth." Then followed the 
command: "Go ye therefore and teach all 
nations," and the promise, "Lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world/' 
(Matt, xxviii, 18-20.) 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Enduement of Power. 

To MEET and overcome the obstacles in 
the way of the progress of the Kingdom 
the disciples needed special qualifications. 
The Holy Ghost had been often promised, 
and they were commanded to await His 
advent. Jesus said: "And behold I send 
the promise of My Father upon you; but 
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye 
be endued with power from on high." 
(Luke xxiv, 49.) They tarried and the 
enduement came: "And when the day of 
Pentecost was fully come, they were all 
with one accord in one place. And sud- 
denly there came a sound from heaven as 
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all 
the house where they were sitting. And 
there appeared unto them cloven tongues 
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 
And they were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost and began to speak with other 
39 



40 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

tongues as the Spirit gave them utter- 
ance." (Acts ii, 1-4.) 

This was the advent of the third person 
of the Holy Trinity, — as distinctly an ad- 
vent of a divine person as was the birth 
of Jesus at Bethlehem. Jesus said: "If I 
depart, I will send Him unto you," and 
He was to abide "forever." Jesus was in 
the world previous to His birth at Bethle- 
hem, but from that time until He ascended 
to His throne, a period of about thirty- 
three years, He was in the world in a sense 
and for a purpose for which He had not 
been previously. Likewise the Holy Ghost 
was in the world previous to Pentecost, 
but since that time He has been here in a 
sense and for a purpose for which He was 
not in the world previously. Jesus said: 
"And He, when He is come will convict 
the world in respect of sin, and of right- 
eousness, and of judgment; of sin because 
they believe not on Me; of righteousness, 
because I go to the Father, and ye behold 
Me no more; of judgment, because the 
prince of this world is judged. Howbeit 
when He the Spirit of truth is come, He 
shall guide you into all truth, for He shall 



The Enduement of Power 41 

not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He 
shall hear these shall He speak ; and He 
shall declare unto you things to come. He 
shall glorify Me; for He shall take of 
mine and shall declare it unto you." (John 
xvi, 9-14, Revised.) Under the inspira- 
tion, guidance, and power of the Holy 
Ghost the Apostolic Church entered upon 
its mighty career of conquest. When the 
baptism came, "they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii, 4.) 

When, after he had healed the lame 
man at the gate of the temple, Peter made 
his defense before the "rulers and elders 
and scribes" he was "filled with the Holy 
Ghost" (Acts iv, 8), and returning to the 
company of the disciples, "they were all 
filled with the Holy Ghost." (Acts iv, 31.) 
The first seven deacons chosen were men 
"full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom." 
(Acts vi, 3.) When St. Stephen was being 
stoned he was "full of the Holy Ghost." 
(Acts vii, 55.) The new converts made 
by the preaching of Philip in Samaria re- 
ceived the Holy Ghost. (Acts viii, 17.) 
The Holy Ghost fell on the Gentile converts 
at Caesarea in the same manner as upon 



42 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

the disciples on Pentecost. (Acts x, 15.) 
Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus that he 
should be "filled with the Holy Ghost" 
(Acts ix, 17) ; and afterwards when, as 
Paul the apostle, he rebuked Elymas the 
sorcerer, he was "filled with the Holy 
Ghost." (Acts xiii, 9.) And yet again we 
read: "And the disciples were filled w^ith 
joy and the Holy Ghost." (Acts xiii, 52.) 
The Holy Ghost was a witness to the ex- 
altation of Jesus and His power to forgive 
sins. (Acts v, 32.) He comforted be- 
lievers (Acts ix, 31) ; separated and sent 
forth ministers to special work (Acts xiii, 
2-4) ; pointed out things from which be- 
lievers were to abstain (Acts xv, 28, 29) ; 
indicated where they should not, and where 
they should preach the word (Acts xvi, 
6-9) ; gave warning of impending danger 
and suffering (Acts xx, 2^) ; appointed 
overseers to feed the Church of God (Acts 
xx, 28) ; and foretold bonds and imprison- 
ments (Acts xxi, 11, 12). The Acts of the 
Apostles is an unfinished book. It breaks 
off abruptly, leaving Paul a prisoner in 
Rome; but the Apostolic Church moved 
on under the direct guidance and conquer- 
ing power of the Holy Ghost. 



CHAPTER V. 

Struggle and Conquest. 

The first three centuries of Christian 
history are the most thrilling, courageous, 
and victorious that ever has been written. 
The Roman Empire was in its glory. 
Rome "sat upon her seven hills and from 
her throne of beauty ruled the (known) 
world." She boasted of being the home of 
a "thousand faiths," but no liberty was 
allowed a faith that in the least degree 
infringed upon the State religion. If a 
nobleman introduced a dangerous religion 
he was banished; while if a plebeian was 
guilty of such an offense he was put to 
death. The relation of Christianity to the 
State religion was one of avowed hostility. 
No Christian would sacrifice at a heathen 
altar or worship in a heathen temple. He 
was at once a marked man. No bond of 
sympathy remained between the old re- 
43 



44 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

ligion and the new. Pagan associations 
and even family ties were severed. The 
aggressive spirit was everywhere present 
and permeated all grades of society from 
the lowest to the highest, and converts rap- 
idly multiplied. Though nothing immoral 
could be justly charged against them, they 
were cruelly persecuted. Having caused 
Rome to be set on fire, to escape the pun- 
ishment he richly deserved and taking ad- 
vantage of the popular hostility against 
Christians, Nero charged the crime against 
them. They were "sewed up in skins of 
wild beasts and dogs were set upon them, 
which tore them to pieces. Some were 
smeared with inflammable gums and placed 
at convenient intervals in Nero's garden 
and set on fire, and thus made to serve the 
purpose of lamps, while Nero clad as a 
charioteer conducted a chariot race for the 
delight of the multitude." (Hurst's His- 
tory of the Christian Church.) 

Under Vespasian, Titus, Nerva, Trajan, 
Severus, Hadrian, and Antoninus, the per- 
secution varied in extent and intensity until 
A. D. 161-180, when under Marcus Au- 
relius it extended over every part of the 



Struggle and Conquest 45 

empire. In A. D. 166 or 167 the aged 
Polycapp was put to death, who when 
urged to renounce his faith in Jesus nobly 
replied: "Eighty-six years I have served 
Christ and He has done me no harm. How 
could I now blaspheme my King who has 
redeemed me?" There were brief periods 
when the bloody hand of persecution was 
lifted, but only that it might descend again 
with more fatal and cruel force. 

Constantine (A. D. 306-337) was the 
first Roman emperor to declare full and 
I final toleration to the Christian religion, 
I and as a result paganism was everywhere 
discounted and Christianity became, at least 
nominally, the religion of the Roman Em- 
pire. 

The Dark Ages. 

The Christian Church, having received 
political recognition, gradually became a 
center of political power. Ecclesiastics 
arose, who seized upon the Church organ- 
ism as a means of political promotion and 
power. Insidiously the ecclesiastical crept 
into the sphere of the political, until at 
length it dominated the State and ecclesi- 
astics became temporal rulers and made 



46 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

and unmade kings and emperors. Mean- 
while the Christian Church incorporated 
into its doctrines, rites, and ceremonies 
much that was purely pagan, and as a con- 
sequence lost its spiritual and transform- 
ing power. The Church became in fact 
quite as much pagan as Christian. While 
during the first three centuries the Chris- 
tian Church was the victim of persecution, 
in the Middle Ages it became the instru- 
ment of persecution. It is doubtful whether 
the persecutions under Nero or Marcus 
Aurelius were more cruel than under sev- 
eral of the Popes of Rome. 

The: Dawn. 

There is no night so dark that it is not 
followed by the dawn of a new day, and so 
the long dark night of the Middle Ages 
began to gleam with light. There arose 
Grosseteste, who protested to Pope Inno- 
cent against committing the flock to the 
care of a priest in order that he might 
get the "milk and the wool, while he is 
unable or unwilling to guide, to feed and 
protect the flock, gives over the flock to 
death as a prey," and William of Occam 



Struggle and Conquest 47 

boldly declared that it is false to maintain 
that the "Pope possesses unlimited power, 
both spiritual and temporal." The most 
prominent and important of all the pre- 
Lutheran reformers was John Wycliff, "the 
morning star of the Reformation." He 
was born between 13 19 and 1324, and died 
January 31, 1384. Twenty-eight years 
after his death, Archbishop Arundel wrote 
to Pope John XXIII, asking him to order 
the bones of the heretic, "a most wretched 
and pestilent person of damnable memory, 
a son of the old serpent, and a precursor 
and a child of antichrist," to be dug up 
and cast upon a dirt heap or into the fire. 
This request was repeated by the Council 
of Constance three years later, and in 1427 
Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, caused the 
body to be exhumed, burned to ashes, and 
cast into the brook Swift. Of this event 
Thomas Fuller wrote: "Thus the brook 
has conveyed his ashes into the Avon, Avon 
into the Severn, Severn into the narrow 
seas, they into the main ocean. And thus 
the ashes of Wycliff are the emblem of 
his doctrine, which now is dispersed the 
world over." 



48 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

Wordsworth wrote: 

"Once more the Church is seized with sudden 
fear, 

And at her call is Wyclifr* disinhumed; 

Yea, his dry ashes are consumed 

And flung into the brook that travels near; 

Forthwith that ancient voice which streams can 
hear 

Thus speaks (that voice which walks upon the 
wind, 

Though seldom heard by humankind) 

As thou, these ashes, little brook, wilt bear 

Into the Avon, Avon to the tide 

Of Severn, Severn to the tide of narrow seas ; 

Into the main ocean they, this deed accursed 

An emblem yields to friends and enemies. 

How the bold teacher's doctrine sanctified 

By truth, shall spread, throughout the world dis- 
persed." 

With Wycliff arose the Lollards, and "in 
churches and cemeteries, in gardens, pri- 
vate houses, by the wayside, did thes$ 
preachers set forth the new gospel." John 
Huss followed Wycliff. The visitor to the 
University Library at Prague may see three 
medallions that set forth in striking man- 
ner the relations between Wycliff and the 
Reformation. The first is Wycliff strik- 
ing sparks from a stone, the second is Huss 



Struggle and Conquest 49 

starting a fire, and the third is Luther wav- 
ing a flaming torch. Other reformers occu- 
pied conspicuous places, but these three 
constituted a trinity, that can never be 
separated or obscured. Without Wycliff 
the sparks had not been smitten from the 
rock, without Huss the fire had not been 
kindled, and without Luther there had been 
no flaming torch. 

Luther's place in history as the great 
Reformer is forever secure. Both friends 
and foes unite to give him the highest 
position. The story of his struggle with 
the Pope and his minions can not be re- 
lated here. On October 31, 15 17, the Re- 
former nailed his ninety-five immortal 
theses on the door of the Castle Church in 
Wittenberg, and the rap of his hammer 
was heard round the world — and it is heard 
until this day. Almost three years later 
(June 15, 1520) the bull of excommuni- 
cation was issued. Luther responded de- 
fiantly by committing the bull to the flames, 
in the presence of a vast multitude, with 
the words: "As thou hast vexed the holy 
one of the Lord, may the eternal fires vex 
thee." The Rubicon was reached and 
4 



50 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

crossed. Henceforth the battle was pushed 
without thought of reconciliation or com- 
promise, and the Reformation swept over 
Germany and other portions of Europe. 

Ths Wssi^yan Revival. 

There came a time when the Reforma- 
tion needed to be reformed. The reformed 
Church became more formal than spirit- 
ual, and lost its aggressive power. Infi- 
delity and Atheism became prevalent on 
the continent of Europe, and its baleful 
influence was felt in England, where wide- 
spread immorality prevailed. Prominent 
statesmen not only repudiated Christianity, 
but were grossly immoral, while the lower 
classes were sunk in ignorance and drunk- 
enness. Criminal classes terrorized whole 
communities, broke open prisons, burnt 
houses, and sacked and pillaged at will. 
Not a few of the clergy lapsed into im- 
morality, and were characterized as 
"drunken, fox-hunting parsons." Sermons 
were at best only moral essays. Practical 
sermons that take hold upon the conscience 
were rarely heard. Blackstone after hear- 
ing every clergyman of note in London de- 



Struggle and Conquest 51 

clared that he could not determine whether 
"the preacher was a follower of Confucius, 
Mahomet, or of Christ." 

Certainly another reformation was 
needed, and it was inaugurated under the 
leadership of John Wesley, who was born 
in Epworth, June 17, 1703. Educated at 
Oxford, ordained a priest in the Church 
of England, he came to America to convert 
the Indians. Failing in his mission, he 
returned to England exclaiming, "I went 
to America to convert the Indians, but 
alas ! who shall convert me ?" He now 
began to associate intimately with the Mo- 
ravians, and finally, under the influence of 
Peter Bohler, he was led into the full assur- 
ance of faith. This occurred May 24, 1738, 
in Aldersgate Street, London, in a Mora- 
vian Chapel, at a quarter before nine in the 
evening, while some one was reading 
Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Ro- 
mans. It was here that he testified for 
the first time: "I felt my heart strangely 
warmed. I felt that I did trust in Christ, 
Christ alone, for salvation, and assurance 
was given me that he had taken away my 
sins, even mine, and saved me from the 



52 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

law of sin and death." Here the waters 
broke out. They were like the waters 
Ezekiel saw in his vision, which "issued 
out from under the threshold of the house 
eastward," and flowed toward the east 
country, down into the desert and into the 
Dead Sea, healing its waters. Wherever 
the river flowed there was life, and on its 
banks grew "all trees for meat" and the 
"leaf thereof for medicine." (Ezek. xlvii, 
1-12.) 

The conversion of Mr. Wesley was the 
opening anew of the fountain of the water 
of life, which has become "waters to swim 
in, a river that can not be passed over." 
These waters have flown not only in Wes- 
leyan Methodist channels, but into all Prot- 
estant denominations, everywhere enrich- 
ing their spiritual life. It was the Wes- 
leyan revival that caused the great mission- 
ary movements of the nineteenth century, 
and makes possible the evangelization of 
the world within the first half of the twen- 
tieth century. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Events Culminate. 

It has often been declared that the twen- 
tieth century is the greatest in human his- 
tory, and the statement has not been chal- 
lenged. But it should not be forgotten 
that its greatness is the flower and fruitage 
of the centuries that had gone before. It 
was during the nineteenth century that 
events culminated that had long been in 
course of preparation. These events have 
prepared the way for the speedy evangel- 
ization of the whole world. 

I. Exploration. 

During the nineteenth century the ex- 
ploration of the world was practically com- 
pleted. When the century came, less than 
one-half the world was known to civilized 
people. Much less than one-half the West- 
ern hemisphere had been traversed by white 
53 



54 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

men. Canada was sparsely settled along 
the lower St. Lawrence and southeastern 
border. Agents of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany had penetrated its more northern and 
central parts, and established trading posts, 
where they bartered for furs with the na- 
tives, but made no effort to explore the 
territory, to ascertain its extent, agricul- 
tural possibilities, or mineral resources. 
The independence of the United States was 
acknowledged by foreign powers in 1787. 
When the nineteenth century came the 
new Republic was thirteen years old, with 
a population of 5,000,000, living mainly east 
of a line running along the crest of the 
Alleghany Mountains, from Canada to the 
Gulf of Mexico. There were scattered and 
isolated settlements west of the Alleghanies. 
Detroit, which is older than either Balti- 
more or Philadelphia, was founded by the 
French in 1670, but was only an outpost 
for the prosecution of the fur trade of the 
Hudson Bay Company. There were settle- 
ments along the Ohio River from Pitts- 
burg to its confluence with the Mississippi, 
but the interiors of the great States lying 
to the north and south were mainly the 



Events Culminate 55 

hunting grounds of the red man. There 
were also settlements on the lower Missis- 
sippi. In 1684 the French made an attempt 
to colonize, but their ships missed the 
mouth of the river, drifted on to Matagora 
Bay on the coast of Texas, and the Col- 
onists perished. In 1700 they were success- 
ful, and planted a colony at Point Poverty 
on the west bank of the Mississippi, thirty- 
eight miles below the present site of the 
city of New Orleans, and in 1718 New 
Orleans was founded. 

In 1762 the Louisiana Purchase, com- 
prising all the present territory of the 
United States west of the Mississippi ex- 
cept Texas, and the areas acquired from 
Mexico since 1847, was ceded to Spain 
by France. In 1800 it was ceded back to 
France, and in 1803 it was sold by France 
to the United States for 60,000,000 francs. 
When the nineteenth century came the 
Stars and Stripes did not float over a square 
foot of territory west of the Mississippi 
River, and was practically untrodden by 
civilized men. 

Mexico was conquered by Spain in 1521 
and held until 1821, when Hidalgo struck 



56 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

the first blow for freedom. But during the 
three hundred years of Spanish tyranny 
and robbery they explored scarcely more 
than half the country. South America was 
conquered by Spain in the fifteenth century, 
but the interior of the continent was as un- 
known at the beginning of the nineteenth 
century as was the heart of Africa. 

Turning to the Eastern Hemisphere, we 
find that at the close of the eighteenth cen- 
tury Asia was but partly known to the 
people of Europe. Southwestern Asia, in- 
cluding Palestine, was, as it is still, under 
Moslem rule. The numerous nations and 
tribes of Southern Asia, though ruled by 
native princes, were being brought under 
British authority through the East India 
Company, which was chartered by Queen 
Elizabeth in 1600. In 1798, Lord Morn- 
ington proposed a plan by which the whole 
country should be brought absolutely under 
British rule, which plan was finally consum- 
mated in 1877, when Queen Victoria was 
proclaimed empress of all India. While 
the East India Company was in power it 
steadily and quite successfully resisted all 
efforts to Christianize the native peoples, 



Events Culminate 57 

or even to allow the western world to be- 
come acquainted with their real condition. 
Central, northern, and eastern Asia, includ- 
ing Thibet, Turkestan, Mongolia, Man- 
churia, Siberia, China, Korea, and Japan, 
were strange lands to Europeans when the 
year 1801 dawned. Marco Polo, of Venice, 
during the latter part of the thirteenth cen- 
tury traveled extensively in China and 
Thibet, passing through vast regions which 
no European had ever seen before. He 
described the countries and peoples volumi- 
nously, but his writings were regarded as 
containing quite as much fiction as fact. 
In 1807, Robert Morrison found China a 
closed country. Until 1853, when Commo- 
dore Perry, with a fleet of American war- 
ships anchored in the harbor at Yokohama, 
Japan refused to have any communication 
with the western world, and several years 
later Korea was still the Hermit Kingdom. 
At the same period Africa was almost 
wholly unexplored. Europeans were occu- 
pying territory along the Mediterranean, 
a colony of Dutch and Portuguese had been 
established at the Cape of Good Hope, and 
a tract of country on the west coast was 



58 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

held by slave stealers. During the fifteenth, 
sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth cen- 
turies important explorations on the mar- 
gins of the country were made, but the in- 
terior of the continent was not explored 
until the beginning of the fourth quarter 
of the nineteenth century, when Stanley 
made his way from Zanzibar by way of the 
Victoria Nyanza and Lualaha Rivers to 
the Congo. 

Australia was first discovered by Dutch 
mariners in 1606, and the other contiguous 
islands in the southern seas later still. In 
1769, Captain Cook explored the; east coast 
of Australia. In 1788, England established 
a penal colony at Port Jackson on the east 
coast, which continued to be such until 
1839. The thorough exploration of the 
whole group was commenced in 1802, and 
was not completed until 1873. From this 
outline it is seen that the world's explora- 
tion was substantially completed during 
the nineteenth century. The new century 
finds the habitat of the last man located. 
There remain to tempt the daring of the 
explorer only the north pole and the south 
pole. In attempts to reach the former two 



Events Culminate 59 

hundred ships have been crushed by ice 
floes, four thousand seamen have starved, 
frozen, or drowned, and $100,000,000 have 
been expended. The newspapers tell us 
that an attempt is now to be made to reach 
the pole by an airship, but whether better 
success will be achieved by sailing through 
the air than through Arctic seas remains 
to be seen. Should the North Pole or the 
South Pole, or both be reached, it is not 
probable that other inhabitants than the 
polar bear will be found, and as it is not 
proposed to make Christians of that kind 
of population, the modern missionary move- 
ment is little concerned as to the success 
or failure of polar expeditions. 

All honor to the world's daring explor- 
ers. They have been the avant-couriers of 
the heralds of the cross, and not unfre- 
quently they have themselves been at once 
explorers and heralds. They have told us 
under what conditions the non-Christian 
peoples dwell, and where to find them, thus 
making their evangelization possible. By 
the explorer a great mountain has been 
moved out of the way of world-wide evan- 
gelization, and a deep, dark valley has been 




60 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

exalted. The further exploration and sur- 
vey of all the continents and islands of the 
world are being successfully carried for- 
ward. Valleys and plains are traversed, 
rivers traced to their sources, mountains 
scaled, and coast lines carefully described. 
Successive editions of Rand & McNally's 
Atlas set forth the progress that is being 
made. There are eighty-three geograph- 
ical societies, with a total membership of 
50,000, publishing 153 journals, all engaged 
in the more complete survey and descrip- 
tion of the whole world. Topographical as 
well as geographical maps and charts are 
provided, by which at a glance may be seen 
the boundaries and the surface of the con- 
tinents and islands of the world. 

Along with exploration has gone the de- 
velopment of the science of ethnology, tell- 
ing us of the distribution of the human 
race from the days of Noah until now, its 
divisions, relations, and peculiarities, giv- 
ing valuable information as to their grades 
of civilization, habits, customs, and usage. 
The science of comparative religions has 
also made considerable headway, so that 
we know what are the various religious 



Events Culminate 61 

systems of the non-Christian millions. Mis- 
sionaries may acquire at least the rudi- 
ments of foreign and difficult languages, 
and learn much about the religious systems 
of the peoples before leaving for the field, 
and so be better equipped than formerly 
to enter upon their work. 

II. Transportation Provided. 

A century ago there was not a steam 
craft of any description on the waters of 
our globe, and seamen depended upon 
winds, waves, and oars to propel their ships 
and smaller vessels. Then a voyage from 
New York to Liverpool required two or 
three months' time, determined by condi- 
tions of weather; from Liverpool to Bom- 
bay from three to six months. In 1793, 
Carey was five months from England to 
Calcutta. In 1807, Morrison was seven 
months from England to Canton. In 1812, 
Judson was eleven months from Boston to 
Calcutta. MofTatt was three months from 
England to Capetown in 181 7. As late as 
1857 Stephen L. Baldwin was one hundred 
and fifty-seven days from New York to 
Foochow, and in 1859, James M. Thoburn 



62 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

was one hundred and twenty days from 
Boston to Calcutta. When the nineteenth 
century came a voyage around the world 
was measured by years rather than months, 
and the voyager bade farewell to home and 
friends, little expecting to see or greet 
either again. 

Towards the end of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, Robert Fulton, like James Watt, was 
listening to the music of his mother's iron 
teakettle lid and dreaming of the power 
of steam. In 1803 he was in Paris con- 
structing a small steamboat, which he 
launched on the Seine. Receiving no en- 
couragement from the savants of Paris, 
disgusted but not discouraged he returned 
to America, and in 1807 launched a steam- 
boat on the lower Hudson, in the presence 
of a vast multitude of astonished and ad- 
miring spectators, which made its first trip 
from New York to Albany at a speed of 
five miles an hour. Fulton's invention was 
quickly utilized for river navigation, but 
for years it was claimed that steam could 
not be successfully used on the high seas. 
In 1 8 19 a ship crossed the Atlantic from 
Savannah, Georgia, to Liverpool, with 



Events Culminate 63 

steam as supplementary, which was em- 
ployed eighteen days, the entire voyage re- 
quiring twenty-eight days. In 1838 two 
steamers crossed the Atlantic, the Great 
Western from Bristol and the Sirius from 
Cork. Now all the oceans, seas, and nav- 
igable rivers are traversed by magnificent 
steamships and steamboats and minor craft. 
Now a voyage from New York to Liver- 
pool is about six days, and it is believed 
will be reduced to five days in the not dis- 
tant future. From Liverpool to Bombay 
is twenty days, and to Calcutta twenty- 
five days. From San Francisco or Seattle 
to Yokohama fifteen days, and to Shanghai 
twenty days. 

One hundred years ago there was not 
a mile of railroad on the planet. George 
Stephenson is credited with having con- 
structed in 1 814 the first locomotive that 
was a decided success, but it was capable 
of a speed of only six miles an hour. The 
first railroad for passenger service was 
opened September 15, 1830, between Liver- 
pool and Manchester, and soon obtained a 
speed of thirty-five miles an hour. Now. 
there are nearly 600,000 miles of railroad, 



64 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

enough to belt the globe twenty- four times. 
Glancing at the western hemisphere, we 
find that the United States has about 275,- 
000 miles, enough to belt the globe eleven 
times. Canada has 20,000 miles; Mexico, 
13,000; South America, 37,500. A Pan- 
American line is chartered, which will con- 
nect New York and Hudson Bay with 
Buenos Ayres. Already 6,345 miles are 
in operation, leaving 4,000 miles of links 
to be constructed. This line when com- 
pleted will bind together with rails of steel 
fifteen republics, and will do more to en-, 
force the Monroe Doctrine than a fleet of 
warships. It will not be many years until 
one may travel from New York to Buenos 
Ayres without changing cars. 

Glancing at the eastern hemisphere, we 
see that railroad extension has been going 
on rapidly for a quarter of a century. All 
Europe is well equipped with railroad fa- 
cilities, and Asia is making rapid headway. 
Before the war broke out between Russia 
and Japan, the Trans-Siberian line from 
St. Petersburg to Vladivostock was com- 
pleted, and a line connected Harbin with 
Port Arthur. From the main line a branch 



Events Culminate 65 

extended to Odessa on the Black Sea, and 
another was in course of construction to 
the Caspian Sea, with the Persian Gulf as 
its southern terminal. The Indian Empire 
has about 40,000 miles of railroad in oper- 
ation. China has 4,000 miles. One may go 
by rail from Taku on the Gulf of Pechili. 
via Tientsin and Peking, to Hankow on 
the Yangtse River, a distance of more than 
one thousand miles. From Hankow the 
line is to continue to Canton in the south- 
ern part of the empire. This is the line 
that was under the control of an American 
syndicate, of which J. P. Morgan & Co. 
were the head, but it has been compelled 
to surrender its privileges to Chinese cap- 
italists, who will complete the line at an 
early day. Other lines have been surveyed, 
some of which are in process of construc- 
tion. The end of the first quarter of the 
present century will probably find all the 
eighteen provinces and the most important 
cities of the empire accessible by rail. 

The Japanese are building a railroad 

from Fusan, on the southeast coast of 

Korea, via Seoul the capital, and Pyeng 

Yang, to We-ju, and will soon connect 

5 



66 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

with the line extending from Harbin to 
Port Arthur, a total distance of about 750 
miles. There is also a line now in oper- 
ation from Chemulpo to Seoul, a distance 
of twenty-six miles. Japan has nearly 
5,000 miles of railroad now in operation, 
and is rapidly extending branches from 
trunk lines to all important points. Re- 
turning to Western Asia, we find a road 
already in operation from Joppa on the 
Mediterranean to Jerusalem, and another 
from Beirut to Damascus, which is to con- 
tinue to the river Euphrates, where it will 
connect with a line from Constantinople 
in process of construction by the Turks. 
A line is to be built from Damascus to Je- 
rusalem, and ultimately to Cairo. From 
Cairo a line is in operation up the Nile 
to and beyond Khartoum, a distance of 
more than 1,500 miles, while from Cape- 
town a line is completed northward more 
than 2,500 miles to the Zambesia River, 
which is spanned by the highest railroad 
bridge in the world. There remains to b$ 
built about 2,000 miles to complete the 
Cape to Cairo line, when will be realized 
the dream of that most acute, far-seeing 



Events Culminate 67 

business man of modern times, and an Eng- 
lishman, the late Cecil Rhodes. A line 
is now in operation from Mambasa on the 
Indian Ocean, six hundred miles to Lake 
Victoria Nyanza. From Loanda on the 
west coast a line is constructed more than 
three hundred miles into the interior. 
From Bagamoya on the east coast a line 
is projected westward. Both these lines 
will ultimately connect with the Cape to 
Cairo trunk line. 

The time is not very distant when the 
dark continent can be crossed east, west, 
north, and south in Pullman cars. Two 
hundred and fifty miles of railroad is in 
operation on the Upper Congo, and other 
lines are in operation, and others still in 
course of construction on the continent. 
Australia has about 15,000 miles, and New 
Zealand nearly 3,000 miles more in oper- 
ation. Many other lines have already been 
surveyed in Asia and Africa, and will be 
constructed, which can not be noted here ; 
but enough has been given to suggest at 
least the present and prospective facilities 
for rapid transit throughout the world. 
In view of the numerous mission stations 



68 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

scattered throughout non-Christian coun- 
tries, and the facilities for travel by land 
and water, it is probable that the remotest 
pagan community can be reached from a 
Christian center in about thirty days. With 
the advent of the trolley and the automobile 
who can prophesy what the facilities for 
rapid transit will be fifty years hence? 
Were the globe all water, an Atlantic 
steamer making six hundred miles a day 
would go around in forty-two days, but the 
land portions can be made much faster by 
rail, so that girdling the globe in thirty 
days is already a possibility. If the "New 
York to Paris by Rail" scheme, by way of 
Bering Straits, which has been recently 
revived, and to which the Review of Re- 
views (May, 1906) gives prominence by 
printing a map of the proposed route, is 
ever a reality, the time may be reduced to 
twenty days. Daniel wrote, "Many shall 
run to and fro, and knowledge shall be in- 
creased." (Dan. xii, 4.) Did the prophet 
foresee the present marvelous provisions 
for running to and fro over all the earth? 
So we see that not only has the habitat of 
the last man been found, but also the facil- 



Events Culminate 69 

ities are provided for reaching him in a 
brief period of time. 

The New York Sun (April 5, 1906) 
says: 

"Accustomed as the American people are 
to huge railway systems and long railway 
journeys, there is a tendency to lose breath 
for a moment or two over the idea of being 
able to buy a through railroad ticket from 
New York to almost any point in North 
America, South America, Asia, Europe, or 
Africa, but it will not be a hundred years 
before that can be done. It may even be 
possible within fifty years." 

Fleets of ships are launched, and lines 
of railroad constructed for travel and com- 
merce, but the King's heralds use them 
in obeying His last command, "Go ye into 
all the world and preach the gospel to 
every creature." Millions of money in- 
vested in business enterprises are aiding 
in the advancement of the Kingdom of 
God. Let us not forget that all great sec- 
ular as well as religious movements tend 
towards the same end, — the universal reign 
in this world of Him whose name is "above 
every name." 



70 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

III. Information Diffused. 

The nineteenth century witnessed a won- 
derful development of agencies for increas- 
ing knowledge and disseminating informa- 
tion throughout the world. The free public 
school systems of the civilized or Christian 
nations grew up mainly during that cen- 
tury. At its beginning free schools were 
rare, while at its close they were universal. 
Japan, which was a closed pagan nation 
much less than a century ago, now has a 
public school system quite the equal of 
many Western nations. 

It was a century noted for the growth 
of colleges and universities already in ex- 
istence, and the founding of a vast number 
of new ones. Between 1784 and 1884 the 
Methodist Episcopal Church founded 225 
classical seminaries, colleges, and univer- 
sities. The curriculum of a university a 
century ago was scarcely above that of a 
first-class American high school of to-day. 
There are now 443 colleges and universities 
in the United States, with endowments, 
mainly built up during the past century, 
aggregating the enormous sum of $244,- 
458,055. And other Christian nations are 




Events Culminate 71 

equally well supplied. There never was a 
time when schools of all grades, from the 
primary to the university, were so numer- 
ous and so accessible as now. Even in non- 
Christian countries such as China and 
Korea, where public free schools do not 
exist, mission schools of all grades are 
numerously established, affording educa- 
tional advantages to multitudes of children 
and youth. These mission schools are but 
the forerunners of free schools that are 
sure to come during the present century. 
The nineteenth century witnessed the de- 
velopment of the printing press, from a 
hand machine that could turn off one hun- 
dred impressions an hour, to the steam 
pow r er press that turns off, binds, and folds 
one hundred thousand impressions an hour. 
Rowell's American Newspaper Directory 
for 1905 reports the number of newspapers 
published in the world at 60,000, distrib- 
uted as follows : 

United States and Canada 23,146 

Germany 8,049 

Great Britain 9,500 

France 6,681 

Japan 1,000 

Italy 2,755 



72 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

Austria-Hungary 2,985 

Asia, exclusive of Japan 1,000 

Spain 1,000 

Russia 1,000 

Australia 1.000 

Greece 130 

Switzerland 1,005 

Holland 980 

Belgium 956 

All others 1,000 

There never was a time when there were 
so many valuable books, — religious, his- 
toric, scientific, philosophic, fictitious, and 
literary, — as now, while public and private 
libraries make these books available to all 
classes. 

The splendid service of Christian mis- 
sionaries in translating the Bible into the 
languages of non-Christian nations, and in 
providing them with Christian literature, 
is set forth by Dr. James S. Dennis, than 
whom there is no higher authority on mis- 
sions. Dr. Dennis says : 

"As if in response to these monumental 
labors to supply the Scriptures to mankind, 
the world seems to have been opened in a 
truly marvelous way for the dissemination 
of the Bible throughout the great nations 



Events Culminate 73 

of the East, as well as among hundreds of 
obscure tribes whose languages were un- 
known, and thus unavailable for literature 
a generation or more ago. This silent, vic- 
torious march of God's Word along the 
great highways of non-Christian literatures 
into the intellectual and religious strong- 
holds of ancient peoples, whose latter-day 
destiny seems already to shape itself before 
the eyes of men as a new dawn in history, 
is surely a fact which is full of splendid 
promise to human progress. It is hardly 
more than a single generation since the 
Bible was under ban in Japan, and could be 
printed only secretly, and read at the peril 
of life. A conservative estimate of editions 
of the Scriptures, both of the Old and the 
New Testament, either entire or in separate 
portions, distributed by gift or sale in Japan 
since 1872, is two million copies. A few 
years ago the non-Christian bookseller 
would not keep the Bible in stock, lest it 
should injure his reputation and lower the 
standing of his shop in the eyes of the 
public. 

"The sales in China since the Boxer dis- 
turbances have been phenomenal. Single 



74 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

orders even from the far interior are now 
received, which a few years ago would 
have seemed sufficient to supply the de- 
mand of all China for five or six years ; 
yet so stupendous is the need of that vast 
empire that 'for every person who has a 
Bible there are about two thousand who 
have none; for every person who has a 
New Testament there are two hundred and 
fifty who have none ; for every person who 
has a single copy of a Gospel or some por- 
tion of the Scripture, there are forty who 
have none/ 

"The total number of Bible translations 
which may now be credited to missionaries 
is four hundred and eighty-two, only ten 
of these having been issued before the be- 
ginning of the nineteenth century, and all 
of which are in active circulation, save 
forty which have become obsolete. These 
figures do not include the six principal an- 
cient versions, nor the sixteen standard 
modern versions of Christendom, as it is 
doubtful if they should be listed as strictly 
the product of missionary labor. If these 
be added to the sum of missionary trans- 
lations, the total of ancient and modern, 



Events Culminate 75 

living and obsolete, translations, from both 
sources, may be stated as five hundred and 
four. There are, moreover, about twenty 
additional versions not new in the sense of 
being translations into another language, 
but only the transliteration of an existing 
translation into some other character, as, 
for example, the printing of one Asiatic 
language in the characters of another — 
Turkish in the Armenian text, or Chinese 
in English letters — giving as nearly as pos- 
sible the proper sound of the original 
tongue. These also are largely the work 
of missionaries. Another, and perhaps 
clearer, method of stating these results is 
as follows : Number of translations by mis- 
sionaries covering the entire Bible — includ- 
ing three versions now obsolete — one hun- 
dred and one; number of additional trans- 
lations by missionaries covering the entire 
New Testament — including twenty-two 
versions now obsolete — one hundred and 
twenty-seven; number of additional lan- 
guages into which missionaries have trans- 
lated only portions of the Old and New 
Testaments — including fifteen versions now 
obsolete — two hundred and fifty- four ; the 



76 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

resultant total being four hundred and 
eighty-two, to which may be added the 
versions prepared by transliteration. 

"The Bible Societies of Christendom 
have numerous auxiliary societies and 
agencies in the principal foreign mission 
fields ; ten important auxiliaries in India, 
for example, being engaged in an extended 
and vigorous campaign for the production 
and distribution of the Bible in that great 
English dependency. The Society for Pro- 
moting Christian Knowledge, and the So- 
ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel, 
have also given much attention to this spe- 
cial service of Bible translation and dis- 
semination. 

"In the more general field of Christian 
literature the services of the Religious 
Tract Society of London, the Christian 
Literature Society of India, the Society for 
Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the 
American Tract Society, are of the highest 
value and efficiency, and have now grown 
to large proportions in mission lands. 
These societies of Christendom usually have 
auxiliaries or agencies ■ in China, India, 
Japan, Turkey, and elsewhere, specially en- 



Events Culminate 77 

gaged in the production and distribution 
of the vernacular Christian literature, be- 
sides rendering material aid to several in- 
digenous tract societies in various mission 
fields. The Christian Literature Society 
for China is a Scotch organization closely 
co-operating with what may be regarded 
as the leading independent enterprise in 
mission fields in this department of liter- 
ature — the Society for the Diffusion of 
Christian and General Knowledge among 
the Chinese, founded in 1887. There are 
several other book and tract societies under 
Christian auspices in China. The record 
of progress in India is impressive. In the 
report of the Madras Decennial Conference 
of 1902 is a comparative statement of the 
advance in the distribution of Christian 
literature in India during five years, sepa- 
rated by decades. In i860 the total distri- 
bution of the Bible, Tract, and Christian 
Literature Societies amounted to 727,744 
copies; in 1870 it was 882,924; in 1880 it 
was 2,309,337; in 1890 it was 4,965,034; 
in 1900 it was 5,881,836. This represents 
an increase in the proceeds of sales amount- 
ing to seven-fold, and in the field of circu- 
lation amounting to nearly nine- fold. 



78 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

"The development of missionary oper- 
ations has witnessed the establishment in 
increasing numbers of printing-presses and 
publishing-houses in the mission fields. It 
is impossible to mention all these establish- 
ments in detail, as they number about one 
hundred and sixty in various mission fields, 
issuing annually, in round numbers, a pro- 
duct of about 12,000,000 copies of various 
publications extending to nearly 400,000,- 
000 printed pages. 

"From all these various presses is issued 
a vast volume of periodical literature, pre- 
pared in the main by missionaries them- 
selves, and designed to provide entertaining 
and instructive reading, as well as spirit- 
ual inspiration and guidance, to native read- 
ers. A careful collation made by the au- 
thor indicates that this periodical output 
amounted in 1905 to over four hundred 
separate titles. Periodical literature, how- 
ever, is but a small part of the immense 
literary output now available in the ver- 
nacular of many mission lands. There are 
books and tracts in great numbers which 
it would be impossible to mention here in 
detail. The missionary is first and fore- 



Events Culminate 79 

most an ambassador of the cross, but he is 
also a messenger of light upon a thousand 
kindred themes." 

Since 1804 the Bible Societies of the 
world have issued about 300,000,000 Bibles, 
New Testaments, and parts of the Sacred 
Scriptures, and the demand is always in 
excess of the supply. Other books appear 
and pass into oblivion, with a single or at 
most a few editions. A few great books 
are long-lived, but are in demand by only 
a limited number of readers. There is but 
one book that is in demand the world 
around, and that one Book is the Bible. 
The sacred books of the non-Christian 
world are but scantily circulated amongst 
even the peoples who accept their doctrines, 
and only a few scholars in the western 
world have ever seen them, while the Bible 
is the most universally circulated and the 
most popular book of the world. It may 
now be read by about twelve hundred mil- 
lions of people, and it is more than prob- 
able that before the first quarter of the 
present century passes into history it will 
be printed in all the babbling tongues of 
earth. Glorious Book! Let the critics, 



80 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

higher and lower and all between, work 
away at it, and when they shall have tested 
it in their hottest fires they will find that 
"the words of the Lord are pure words ; 
as silver tried in a furnace of earth puri- 
fied seven times." (Psa. xii, 6.) 

The facilities for the rapid and univer- 
sal distribution of information are marvel- 
ous. There are a million people engaged 
in handling the mails of the world, while 
the international postal system extends its 
services into all civilized and semi-civilized 
countries. 

But we do not wait for the mails of the 
world, carried by steam on railroad and 
steamship, to furnish us with news ; we get 
it instantaneously by lightning. On April 
20, 1906, the world celebrated the two hun- 
dredth anniversary of the birth of Benja- 
min Franklin, whose kite first suggested 
the subjugation of electricity to the service 
of mankind; but it was not until 1837 that 
it was demonstrated by experiment in the 
laboratory of the New York University 
that a message might be sent over a wire 
by the aid of electricity. In 1834 a line 
was completed between Washington, D. C, 



Events Culminate 81 

and Baltimore, and very appropriately the 
first message that passed over it was: 
"What hath God wrought!'' It was re- 
cently announced in the press that there 
are 1,200,000 miles of telegraph lines in 
the world, with a total of 4,000,000 miles 
of single wire. Over these lines pass more 
than 1,000,000 messages daily, or nearly 
400,000,000 messages annually. 

There are now 1,750 submarine cables, 
with a total length of 252,000 miles, laid 
at an expense of $275,000,000. It is said 
that 6,000,000 messages, pass over these ^ 
cables annually. 

On July 4, 1903, President Roosevelt "7 
from his summer home at Sagamore Hill, 
Long Island, sent the first message that 
ever made the circuit of the earth. The 
cable having been successfully laid between 
San Francisco and Manila, connecting with 
the cable to Hongkong, a world-round mes- 
sage was possible. The newspapers re- 
ported that twelve minutes were required 
for the journey, and that on its way the 
message was repeated nineteen times. It 
is fair to assume that the twelve minutes 
were almost wholly consumed by the nine- 

6 



82 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

teen repetitions, so that if the message had 
gone round without repetition the time be- 
tween its departure and arrival would have 
been but a small fraction of a minute. Mes- 
sages traveling from east to west arrive 
ahead of time. Queen Victoria died on the 
Isle of Wight at 5 P. M, London time, 
but at 1 P. M., New York time, the same 
afternoon the sad news was printed in the 
New York papers. 

The writer was in Hongkong in 1893, 
and on the evening of December 6th went 
into the cable office and handed the agent 
a code message, requesting that it be held 
until the next day, as our ship did not sail 
until the following morning. Arriving at 
San Francisco the following item, in sub- 
stance, was found in the Christian Advo- 
cate: A cable was received at the Mission- 
ary Office December 6th, saying that Bishop 
Foster and Dr. Leonard sailed on that day 
from Hongkong for San Francisco on the 
steamer Gaelic. That is the message that 
left Hongkong on the 7th of December, 
reached New York on the 6th, about ten 
hours ahead of time. 

And now comes Marconi with the wire- 



Events Culminate 83 

less telegraph, and space itself is substituted 
for wire, and ships at sea are in constant 
communication, while many publish daily 
papers while on their voyages. There are 
seventy ships now equipped with wireless 
apparatus, and the number is certain to 
increase rapidly. Wireless signals have 
already been repeatedly transmitted from 
a station in Newfoundland to the English 
coast, and it is expected that wireless dis- 
patches will be passing to and fro over the 
Atlantic at an early day. From Cape Cod 
stations messages are now sent to vessels 
seventeen hundred miles distant. But in 
addition to the wire and the wireless, we 
have the telephone, that most marvelous of 
all electrical inventions, by which we may 
converse easily with another a thousand 
miles distant, and by which the business 
firms and families of the world may trans- 
act business and hold social intercourse. 
Telephone statistics published by the Cen- 
sus Bureau recently state that in the United 
States in a single year the telephone mes- 
sages were fifty-six times as great as the 
total telegraphic messages. In that year 
there were 2,315,297 telephones in oper- 



84 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

ation, connecting 4,890,456 mites of wire. 
All these methods for the rapid diffusion 
of information are available not only for 
social and secular affairs, but for sacred 
uses as well. The mails carry the Bible and 
all other kinds of Christian literature to all 
parts of the world, and the electric current 
is available for the transmission of relig- 
ious as well as secular news. If a riot 
breaks out, an earthquake destroys prop- 
erty, a missionary dies, a difficult question 
of administration arises, or money is needed 
to meet an important emergency, it does 
not require weeks or months to transmit 
the facts to the missionary office, as in 
former days, or to provide needed relief. 
The missionary office is a center, where 
electric lines from all parts of the world 
converge, and it is necessary only to "touch 
a button" and the currents are set in mo- 
tion. Immediately after the destruction of 
the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay by the 
American fleet under Admiral Dewey, 
Bishop Thoburn, who happened to be at 
Singapore, was requested by cable to visit 
Manila and report the situation to the mis- 
sionary office in New York, Arriving at 



Events Culminate 85 

Manila he found a young man, a native, 
well educated, whose father had spent sev- 
eral years in a Spanish prison for having 
in his possession a copy of the Holy Bible. 
This young man, Nicholas Zamora by name, 
had severed his relation with the Roman 
Church and was ready to identify himself 
with the ministry of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. But there was no organi- 
zation at Manila to receive him, or confer 
ministerial authority. Bishop Thoburn 
cabled the missionary office, requesting that 
Zamora be admitted on trial to a home 
Conference, and elected to deacon's orders. 
The cable was forwarded to Fort Scott, 
where the South Kansas Conference was 
in session, Bishop Vincent presiding, and 
where the writer was an official visitor. 
The request was presented to the Confer- 
ence. Zamora was received, elected to dea- 
con's orders, transferred to the Malaysia 
Mission Conference, the cable reported to 
Bishop Thoburn at Manila, and the ordi- 
nation occurred the day following. This 
incident illustrates the promptness with 
which missionary administration may be 
carried on by the use of the electric cur- 



86 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

rent. Steamships, railroads, and interna- 
tional postal systems, telegraph and cable 
lines, are all placed under tribute that the 
way of the kingdom of God may be estab- 
lished in all the earth. 

IV. Co-operation Secured. 

A century ago Protestantism was not 
only arrayed against Romanism, but 
against itself. The several Protestant de- 
nominations were scarcely less hostile 
towards each other than towards the com- 
mon foe. Those were the days of the 
Church militant. Every denomination was 
a militant camp, in battle array. Battles 
were fought which were not always blood- 
less. But as the century hurried on these 
battles became less numerous and less fierce. 
Gradually ecclesiastics began to look less 
for points of disagreement and more for 
points of agreement, and during the last 
half of the century the battles not only 
ceased, but practical co-operation was es- 
tablished. During the last ten days of 
April, 1900, an ecumenical missionary con- 
ference was held in New York, in which 
all the great Protestant missionary soci- 



Events Culminate 87 

eties of the world were represented. All 
phases of the missionary problem were 
frankly and fully discussed, and not a note 
of discord was heard. Co-operation on the 
foreign field was the keynote of the con- 
ference. For a series of years the corre- 
sponding secretaries and other representa- 
tives of foreign mission boards of the 
United States and Canada have met annu- 
ally in the month of January to plan for 
closer relations and more complete co-oper- 
ation, that there may be no unnecessary 
duplication of efforts, and that the wisest 
and most economical use may be made of 
money and missionaries. It is now no un- 
usual thing for a piece of work to be trans- 
ferred from one missionary society to an- 
other to secure more effective service. 

Federation and union between denomi- 
nations in several branches of missionary 
work is already a fact. Schools, hospitals, 
and printing presses are sometimes jointly 
operated on the foreign field, by which 
greater effectiveness is secured and larger 
results obtained. The Methodist Episcopal 
Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, and the Methodist Church of Can- 



88 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

ada have agreed upon a plan for organic 
union in Japan, and the new Church will 
hold its first General Conference in Tokio, 
Japan, May, 1907. 

While it is neither probable nor desirable 
that organic union of all Protestant denomi- 
nations shall be brought to pass either at 
home or abroad, it is both probable and 
desirable that on the foreign field at least 
the several family groups, — Methodist, 
Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist, and 
Lutheran, — shall be organically one, and 
it is to be hoped that the day is not distant 
when it will be accomplished. Federation 
and co-operation are now at the fore 
amongst all Protestant denominations 
everywhere. The great Inter-Church Con- 
ference, held in New York (November 
15 to 21, 1905), where thirty denominations 
were represented, was a most significant 
and important event, and gives promise of 
great results during the twentieth century. 
The most encouraging and inspiring fact 
of that Conference was its loyalty to the 
Deity of Jesus, and to the vicarious char- 
acter of His death, by which atonement 
was made "for the sins of the whole world." 



Events Culminate 89 

No one could sit as a delegate in that 
Conference who did not accept both these 
propositions. Already the intercessory 
prayer of our Lord is largely, if not fully 
answered : "That all may be one ; as Thou 
Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they 
also may be one in Us ; that the world may 
believe that Thou hast sent Me." (John 
xvii, 21.) Co-operation, not contention, is 
the watchword of Protestantism to-day, and 
instead of hostile camps there is a united 
host marching to certain victory. 

V. Reforms Achieved. 

When the nineteenth century was ushered 
in human slavery was prevalent throughout 
the world; but when it passed out there 
was not a legalized human auction block 
under the flag of a nation claiming a Chris- 
tian civilization. 

In 1789, Wilberforce proposed to the 
British House of Commons the abolition of 
the slave trade, and met with powerful op- 
position. In 1804 his bill was carried 
through the Commons, but was defeated 
by the House of Lords, and in the follow- 
ing year was defeated by the Commons. 



90 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

In 1806 a bill for the total abolition of the 
slave trade was passed by the Lords and 
by the Commons. Wilberforce then en- 
tered upon a campaign not only for the 
abolition of the slave trade, but for the abo- 
lition of slavery itself. 

Three days before his death, in 1833, he 
was informed that the bill for the abolition 
of slavery had passed its second reading, 
which in 1834 became a law abolishing 
slavery throughout the British dominions. 
When the Constitution of the United States 
was adopted in 1788, the African slave 
trade was allowed to continue for a term 
of twenty years, which term expired in 
1808, about two years after the act just 
noted was passed by the British Parliament. 
More than a quarter of a century ago, by 
a treaty between the Christian powers, a 
slaver was denounced as a pirate craft, to 
be captured by a man-of-war of any nation, 
or sunken into the depths of any sea. Now 
there is not a slaver on any water of the 
globe. 

In 1 861 the Czar of Russia liberated the 
serfs of his empire, who had previously been 
sold and bought with landed estates. 



Events Culminate 91 

Slavery was abolished in the United 
States as a war measure by proclamation 
of President Lincoln, January I, 1863, when 
more than 4,000,000' of human chattels were 
set free. 

In 1868 the fourteenth amendment to the 
Constitution was adopted, which reads : 
"All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States and subject to the jurisdic- 
tion thereof are citizens of the United 
States, and of the State in which they re- 
side. No State shall make or enforce any 
law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States ; 
nor shall any State deprive any person of 
life, liberty, or property without due pro- 
cess of law, nor deny to any person within 
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the 
laws." 

The temperance reform is more advanced 
and more hopeful than ever before. Total 
abstainers are proportionately greater than 
at any previous period. This is the result 
of various forces affecting society. Science 
has made it clear that alcohol is a poison, 
and not a tissue builder. The drink habit, 
which is a process of slow poisoning, is 



92 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

being more widely than ever before re- 
garded as suicidal. The drink traffic, which 
is nothing less than a vending of poison, is 
regarded by people of moral conviction as 
criminal. 

Legislatures are recognizing the traffic 
as criminal, and enlarging by State and 
local laws the area of prohibition territory. 
Everywhere other powerful interests tend 
towards prohibition. Great business firms 
will not put drinkers into responsible places. 
Railroad companies are refusing to allow 
intoxicants to be sold on their premises, 
or to permit employees to drink. Mean- 
while the battle wages widely and fiercely. 
National, State, and municipal campaigns 
are waged upon this issue. Every State 
Legislature is a battlefield. Every pulpit 
is a prohibition battery (or ought to be), 
hurling shot and shell against the enemy's 
works. Nobody thinks of defending the 
traffic upon its merits, for it has none. It 
is everywhere branded as an evil or a crime. 
Other kinds of business are permitted to 
regulate themselves under the law of de- 
mand and supply. But not so the drink 
traffic. It must be either restricted as to 



Events Culminate 93 

quantity sold, hours for sales, ages and con- 
ditions of persons to whom sales may be 
made, where consumed, or absolutely pro- 
hibited. 

The rum sellers themselves are sending 
out notes of alarm. They are ready to do 
any desperate or lawless act. They are as 
a class destitute of moral principle. They 
never obey a law that interferes with their 
business because it is a law. They are law- 
breakers. They are tabooed by decent so- 
ciety. The drink traffic is an enemy of 
every real interest of society, and there can 
be no truce or peace until it is destroyed 
root and branch. It will be so destroyed. 
Slavery was tolerated in our country until 
at length it determined to rule the land or 
ruin it. To accomplish the latter it fired 
upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. 
That first shot passed through the heart of 
slavery. The death struggle continued four 
years; but it died. That shot aroused the 
patriotism and united the hearts of all lib- 
erty-loving loyal people, and slavery was 
doomed. The rum power will probably 
attempt some such desperate measure, and 
when it does the hearts and the votes of all 



94 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

good citizens will be united and the rum 
traffic doomed. 

The observance of Sunday as a day of 
rest is more widely demanded than ever 
before, and has recently been made obli- 
gatory by Parliamentary enactment in Can- 
ada and France. 

In accordance with a measure passed by 
the Canadian Parliament, with but little 
opposition, Sunday will be a day of rest 
throughout the Dominion beginning March, 
1907. 

The French Parliament has passed a law 
of the same import with but one dissenting 
vote, which is very significant in view of 
the Papal encyclical recently sent forth de- 
nouncing the Republic as godless, because 
it has decided not to be ultramontane. 

Other reforms are marching on. Polit- 
ical and business reforms are demanded in 
the management of political parties, life in- 
surance companies, trusts, and railroad cor- 
porations. The struggle between capital 
and labor tends towards arbitration as a 
substitute for lockouts and strikes. The 
Golden Rule will yet be the basis of agree- 
ment between these two great forces of 
modern society. 



Events Culminate 95 

Marvelous progress has been made in 
national reform within a hundred years. 
The United States has not only abolished 
slavery, but has also declared by the fif- 
teenth amendment to its Constitution, that 
"the right of citizens of the United States 
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by 
the United States, or by any State, on ac- 
count of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude," thus placing all the people 
on the same level as to civil rights. Al- 
though it must be confessed that in some 
States this guarantee is not fully realized, 
the principle of equality before the law is 
imbedded in the Constitution of the Repub- 
lic, and the trend is in the right direction. 
The United States holds the exalted po- 
sition of being leader amongst the nations 
in civil and religious liberty. 

Canada has arisen from the position of 
a dependency to that of a Dominion having 
its own Parliament, and while still recog- 
nizing the sovereignty of England is prac- 
tically self-governing. 

Mexico under Hidalgo struck the first 
blow in 1 82 1 that, after a long struggle 
under leaders like Juarez and Diaz, has not 



96 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

only broken the galling Spanish yoke, and 
the no less galling ecclesiastical papal yoke, 
both of whic r h she had worn for three hun- 
dred years, and resisted the attempt of 
France to establish a monarchy under Max- 
imilian in 1863, but has also successfully 
established a republic and is steadily rising 
in all the elements of national greatness. 

South American republics have become 
less revolutionary and increasingly stable 
and prosperous. The last monarchy dis- 
appeared in 1869, when Brazil became a 
republic. On the entire continent there 
remain only a few small foreign depend- 
encies, and the steadily increasing recog- 
nition of the Monroe Doctrine makes it not 
only improbable, but impossible that the 
number will be increased, or present areas 
enlarged. 

The progress that England has made 
since George III is almost immeasurable. 
The empire has steadily enlarged, and her 
generosity towards her colonies has as 
steadily increased. Since her failure to 
subjugate the American colonies by war, 
England has changed her policy towards 
her colonies, and for a century has been 



Events Culminate 97 

binding them to her by bands of commerce 
and patriotic affection, rather than by fleets 
of warships and invading armies. One has 
only to visit a British colony in any part 
of the world to learn that loyalty to the 
mother country is a passion and patriotic 
devotion supreme. 

Germany has advanced from a group of 
petty states, with rivalries and contentions, 
to an empire, which is growing in liberal- 
ity of government and religious toleration. 

The heroic struggle of Garibaldi and 
other patriots has abolished the temporal 
power of the Pope and brought about 
United Italy. Less than a half century ago 
one could not enter Rome with a copy of 
the Bible in his possession, but now a car- 
load can go in without challenge, and the 
Gospel can be preached by Protestants any- 
where in Italy under protection of law. 
The Pope is not pleased, and no one should 
expect him to be, but his wrath is vain. 
He sends out a Bull against the heretics 
occasionally, but it roars softly and is harm- 
less. The voluntary imprisonment of his 
holiness in the Vatican is a joke in Italy 
and throughout the world. If he remains 
7 



98 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

self-immured in his palace until the tem- 
poral power is restored, he will not come 
forth this side the judgment-day, — and then 
his chance will be gone. 

The tide of Turkish conquest was long 
ago turned back from Europe, and the "sick 
man of the East" is awaiting his demise, 
which for the good of the world can not 
come too soon. 

France has become a republic, and sepa- 
ration of Church and State has become a 
fact, notwithstanding the protests of the 
Roman Pontiff. 

Spain has lost the last of her depend- 
encies on the western hemisphere, and now 
to her great benefit turns her attention 
towards internal improvements and re- 
forms. 

The Balkan States are struggling to 
throw off the last remnant of Turkish au- 
thority, and with the further decay of the 
Ottoman Empire and the aid of European 
Powers will ultimately and, it is to be 
hoped, speedily be free. 

Russia as we write is still in the throes 
of a mighty revolution. Religious liberty 
has thrice been proclaimed, and the first 



Events Culminate 99 

Parliament (May 10, 1906) has been 
opened by the Czar by a speech from the 
throne, and by his decree dissolved. It 
seems certain that a movement has been 
inaugurated that is not likely to end this 
side of a constitutional monarchy, if not a 
republic. 

Japan has moved up in less than half a 
century from a semi-civilized feudal con- 
dition to the plain of political equality with 
western nations. Up to 1858 she held no 
diplomatic relations with the western world, 
while now her ministers and representatives 
are found at the seats of all governments. 
She has seized and adopted many of the 
policies and institutions of the foremost 
Christian nations, and has opened her doors 
wide for the propagation of the Christian 
religion. While she is not ready to admit 
that she is indebted to Christianity for the 
progress she has made, the world knows 
that no progress was made until Christian 
influences entered her borders. A Japanese 
professor has recently written a volume 
contending that Christianity had nothing to 
do with the renaissance of Japan, but it re- 
mains true that Dr. Verbeck was the real 

LOFC. 



100 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

founder of the modern public school sys- 
tem of the empire; that Joseph Nessima, 
an early convert to Christianity, was the 
apostle of higher education; that hospitals 
opened by missionaries became the models 
after which government hospitals were 
fashioned; that a Christian press was the 
forerunner of the present native press; 
while not a few of their leaders in states- 
manship and war were students in western 
institutions and have had large influence in 
directing the legislation and policy of new 
Japan. 

Up to 1880 Korea was the "Hermit King- 
dom" of the world, desolating her coasts 
that no barbarian of the West might be at- 
tracted to invade her territory. Now her 
gates are wide open, and she welcomes the 
Gospel messenger. 

China, that old giant of the Far East, 
is slowly waking from a slumber of cen- 
turies, and is reaching out after better 
things. It should not be regarded as 
strange if in her first movements she some- 
what disturbs the whole world. She has 
one-fourth of the world's population within 
her borders. Her resources are vast be- 



Events Culminate 101 

yond compute. There is nothing she so 
much needs as the Gospel of Christ. If she 
is fully aroused and comes to know her 
power ere she is qualified to wisely direct 
her own steps, the world may well tremble. 
Fortunately, the power of Christianity is 
being felt, and it is to be hoped that that 
power will keep pace with the rising con- 
sciousness of the people, so that when China 
comes to herself she will be equal to her 
tremendous responsibilities. 

Persia is to have in the near future a con- 
stitutional form of government. 

Into Africa, the "Dark Continent/' 
gleams of light are penetrating which give 
promise of coming day. The continent is 
now largely owned and controlled by Eu- 
ropean powers. England owns and con- 
trols, including Egypt, 3,300,000 square 
miles; France, 3,300,000; Germany, 1,100,- 
000; Italy, 550,000; Spain, 150,000; the 
three free states or republics, — Liberian, 
Belgian, and Afrikander, 1,150,000; Portu- 
gal, 825,000. Only about 230,000 square 
miles remain under native control. The 
control of the continent by these powers 
means the rapid exploitation of its vast 



102 The Way of the Lord Prepared 



material resources, which will be followed, 
if not indeed anticipated, by the evangel- 
ization of the natives. Wrongs will be per- 
petrated against the native tribes, and are 
now being perpetrated in a shameless man- 
ner in the Congo Free State by the Belgian 
king; but they are being met by such re- 
monstrance and protest as will compel their 
discontinuance. The Christian world owes 
Africa a debt, which it dare not and will 
not refuse to pay. It has been the hunting 
ground of the cruel, mercenary, heartless, 
slave stealer for many centuries, and now 
it must be traversed in all its borders and 
jungles by the representatives of Him who 
came to "seek and to save that which was 
lost." 

This glance at the progress of the world 
reveals the encouraging fact that for more 
than a century there has been not only no 
backward step amongst the nations, but uni- 
versal progress rather. A century ago re- 
ligious intolerance prevailed in Mexico, 
South America, and in large portions of 
Continental Europe, while the non-Christian 
nations were closed to the gospel message. 
To-day intolerance amongst Christian na- 



Events Culminate 103 

tions has well nigh disappeared, while there 
are really no closed non-Christian nations. 

VI. Arbitration Supplants War. 

The year 1906 found the world in the 
enjoyment of peace, with peace sentiment 
stronger than ever before. The horribly 
bloody struggle between Japan and Russia 
shocked the world, and caused a reaction 
in favor of peace, which was given tre- 
mendous momentum by the World's Peace 
Congress held at Rio Janeiro, South Amer- 
ica, where advanced ground was taken in 
favor of arbitration, and a resolution 
adopted expressing the hope that the sec- 
ond Hague Conference will agree upon a 
general plan of arbitration that can be ac- 
cepted by all countries. The Inter-Parlia- 
mentary Union, held in London, July, 1906, 
adopted the following resolution on arbitra- 
tion, which is a long step ahead of any 
former action and will go to the next Hague 
Conference for approval : 

"If disagreement should arise between 
the contracting parties which is not one to 
be submitted to arbitration, they shall not 
resort to any act of hostility before sepa- 



104 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

rately or jointly inviting, as the cause may 
necessitate, the formation of an interna- 
tional commission of inquiry or meditation 
on the part of one or more friendly powers. 
This requisition will take place, if necessary, 
according to Article 8 of Hague Conven- 
tion for the peaceful settlement of inter- 
national conflicts. " 

During the nineteenth century there were 
136 international arbritrations, 57 of which 
were inaugurated by the United States, 33 
by Great Britain, 12 by France, and the re- 
maining 34 by other nations. There is good 
reason to hope that through the Hague 
Conference, supported by the peace senti- 
ment of the world, there will soon be ush- 
ered in the era foretold by Isaiah : 

"And it shall come to pass in the last 
days, that the mountain of the Lord's house 
shall be established in the top of the moun- 
tains, and shall be exalted above the hills; 
and all nations shall flow unto it. And many 
people shall go and say, Come ye, and let 
us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to 
the house of the God of Jacob ; and He will 
teach us of His ways, and we will walk in 
His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth 



Events Culminate 105 

the law, and the word of the Lord from Je- 
rusalem. And He shall judge among the 
nations, and shall rebuke many people : and 
they shall beat their swords into plough- 
shares, and their spears into pruninghooks : 
nation shall not lift up sword against na- 
tion, neither shall they learn war any more." 
(Isa. ii, 2-4.) 

VII. Increase of Christian Population. 

The population of Christian countries 
doubled during the nineteenth century, with 
60,000,000 to spare. Note the following 
table showing gains for five centuries : 

Beginning of Sixteenth Century 100,000,000 

Beginning of Seventeenth Century 125,000,000 

Beginning of Eighteenth Century 155,000,000 

Beginning of Nineteenth Century 200,000,000 

Beginning of Twentieth Century 460,000,000 

VIII. EVANGEUZATION ADVANCING. 

At the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
tury there were : 

Protestant Missionary Societies 13 

Male Missionaries (so the record reads) .. . 170 
Communicants 50,000 



106 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

At the beginning of the twentieth century 
there were : 

Protestant missionary societies 537 

Foreign missionaries 14,000 

Native ordained ministers 54,000 

Foreign and native 68,000 

Communicants 1,588,000 

Adherents 3,373,000 

Sunday-schools 8,000 

Sunday-school scholars 1,100,000 

Educational institutions 20,000 

Students and pupils 1,046,000 

Amount contributed annually about ... $23,000,000 

And now, with the world explored, rapid 
transit by sea and land provided, informa- 
tion widely and quickly disseminated, co- 
operation on the part of the great Prot- 
estant Christian denominations secured, re- 
forms local and national accomplished, ar- 
bitration supplanting war, Christian popu- 
lation numbering nearly one-third the 
world's inhabitants, and Christian evangel- 
ization centers established in all non-Chris- 
tian lands, it does not seem extravagant to 
declare that "the way of the Lord" amongst 
the nations is prepared, and that the time 
is near when "the glory of the Lord shall 



Events Culminate 107 

be revealed and all flesh shall see it to- 
gether." 

Notwithstanding all this progress during 
the Christian centuries, culminating in the 
splendid achievements of the century that 
has recently passed into history, there are 
those who tell us that the world, from the 
time of Christ until now, has been growing 
worse, and will continue to grow worse 
until He comes again to take to Himself 
a chosen few gathered from amongst the 
nations. How such a conclusion can be 
reached, either from the teaching of Holy 
Scripture or from history, we are unable to 
comprehend. That Christ will come again 
we fully and joyfully believe. But when 
He comes it will be to reign over a king- 
dom that will be worthy of such a Ruler. 
Not that all evil will be abolished, but that 
everywhere goodness will be dominant. 
The nations will be at peace, and disarma- 
ment will be universal. (Isa. xi, 6-10.) 
The Golden Rule will be recognized by cap- 
ital and labor, and strikes and lockouts will 
be unknown ; business will be honestly con- 
ducted, and there will be no probing of the 
management of life insurance companies, 



108 The Way of the Lord Prepared 

railroad companies, and trusts ; politics will 
be purified and elevated; the traffic in in- 
toxicating liquors for beverage purposes 
will be abolished; poverty and crime will 
be reduced to a minimum; virtue will be 
the law of social life ; religion will be pure 
and undefiled ; and the promise will be ful- 
filled, "They shall not hurt nor destroy in 
all My holy mountain; for the earth shall 
be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the 
waters cover the sea." (Isa. xi, 9.) 

Browning's vision of the world will yet 
be realized : 

"The year's at the spring, 
And day's at the morn; 
Morning's at seven; 

The hillside's dew-pearled; 
The lark 's on the wing ; 
The snail 's on the thorn ; 
God's in His heaven — 
All 's right with the world." 



MAR 18 1907 



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